Credentials & Training
- Master of Education
- ICF Professional Certified Coach
- Creator of Director Credentialing and Administrator Development Programs
- 4,500+ Directors Prepared Through Credential and Professional Development Programs
About Kate
Real Experience Across the Field.
Kate Woodward Young, M.Ed., PCC speaks from inside the work of early childhood, school age, association work, business development, curriculum, training, and professional learning. Her perspective is practical because it is lived.
From the Seat, Not the Sidelines.
Kate's work has always lived at the intersection of people, decisions, and reality.
She understands what it feels like to be the person in the classroom, the person answering parent questions, the person managing staffing gaps, the person making budget decisions, the person writing curriculum, the person training adults, and the person standing in front of a room trying to help others make sense of the work.
That is why her keynotes and workshops are not built around theory alone. They are built around the real conditions early childhood professionals face every day.
Why Kate Speaks
Strong tools. Clear decisions. Real people.
Early childhood is often asked to borrow tools, language, and expectations from industries that were never designed around children, care, trust, relationships, and human development.
Kate believes the field needs strong business practices, thoughtful direction, practical technology, clear communication, and real accountability. But she also believes those tools must be translated for the people doing the work.
Because children are not widgets.
Teachers are not coverage.
Parents are not products.
Leaders are not machines.
Education, Experience & Perspective
Kate Woodward Young, M.Ed., PCC.
A career built across the whole field — classroom to association, curriculum to coaching, podcast to print.
Field Experience
- Former Pre-K and Out-of-School Time Teacher
- Former Family Child Care Provider
- Former Child Care Director
- Former Multi-Site School Age Program Manager
- Former Substitute Service Owner
Association & Workforce
- Former Executive Director of OkAEYC
- Former Executive Director of the Texas Afterschool Association
- Afterschool Ambassador Emeritus, Afterschool Alliance
- Former SBA Business Analyst
Books & Curriculum
- Co-Author of 11 Child Care Leadership and Business Books
- Textbook Author for Director Credentialing and Administrator Development Programs
- National School-Age Curriculum Writer for Junior Achievement and GSUSA
- Curriculum Writer for University of Texas teacher technology training
- Host of Childcare Conversations
The Throughline
People. Decisions. Reality.
Kate's work centers on three things that shape every part of early childhood.
People
Children, families, teachers, assistants, directors, owners, trainers, and community partners are not interchangeable pieces. Early childhood is human work, and human work requires trust, communication, clarity, and care.
Decisions
Every day, early childhood professionals make decisions that affect children, families, staffing, money, safety, culture, and quality. Kate helps audiences slow down, sort the noise, and make decisions that fit the real conditions of the work.
Reality
The field does not need more advice that sounds good but does not survive Monday morning. Kate speaks to the real staffing pressures, financial limits, emotional labor, compliance demands, parent expectations, and program conditions that shape early childhood every day.
Books, Podcast & Professional Voice
Speaker. Author. Trainer. Podcast host.
Kate Woodward Young, M.Ed., PCC is an early childhood keynote speaker, author, trainer, podcast host, and ICF Professional Certified Coach. Her work focuses on people, decisions, and reality in early childhood education and out-of-school-time programs.
She is the host of Childcare Conversations, a podcast created to bring practical, honest conversations to the early childhood field.
She is also the co-author of 11 industry books focused on child care leadership, business operations, staffing, enrollment, finance, and professional practice. Several of these books are now used as textbooks in director credentialing, administrator development, and early childhood professional learning programs.
Through speaking, writing, podcasting, coaching, and training, Kate helps early childhood professionals name what is really happening, make clearer decisions, and stay connected to the human purpose of the work.
Childcare Conversations
Practical, honest conversations for the field.
11 Industry Books
Co-authored. Used in credentialing and professional learning programs.
M.Ed., PCC
ICF Professional Certified Coach and Master of Education.
Bring Kate to Your Next Event.
Looking for a keynote speaker who understands the real work of early childhood? Kate brings practical insight, memorable language, and field-tested perspective to conferences, professional development days, association events, and workforce gatherings.